Diarly: Diary, Private Journal Reviews

by Riz 75

I recently switched from DayOne to Diarly. Importing my entire notes collection along with journal folder structure was super easy. I love the fact that Diarly uses iCloud for sync function which is my preferred service for all sync features and document storage. I really like the themes as well. iPhone and iPad apps are also very well designed. However, one thing I really want is the ability or option to display all note entries as separate cards rather than all entries from the same day combined as one card/page with individual entries separated by line and time/date stamp. Many of my same day entries contain very different topics/subjects and I don’t want them all to be in the same card/page. If this option becomes available, I will upgrade to 5 stars.

by MABARRETT

First of all, I feel it needs to be said that the job they did with the editing options in the entries is outstanding. I downloaded a lot of diary/journal apps and tried all of them and they all left me wanting in the actual journaling portion. This one did not disappoint at all in that department. That said, the only thing I wish this had was a more visual and user friendly way to reference and view previous journal entries. I understand that this is inherently limited on a digital platform, but it’s definitely one of those things that nobody has quite solved yet. Definitely not a dealbreaker as I’m finding it easer to maintain a habit of journaling with Diarly.

by Al I. D.

This is the cleanest nicest diary app I have seen. I love that you use markdown but format it in a great looking way even while writing. And as others have said, the simplicity of Diarly realy makes it perfect for journaling. The thing I was looking for forever was the ability to specify a template for new entries, so thanks so much for that!

There are just a couple missing things that are keeping me from switching over: 1) I love Diarly, but I can’t bring myself to commit to it if it doesn’t have the ability to export to a format that other apps use. I am worried that I’ll want to switch in a month or two and don’t want to go through manually transfering every day’s journal. 2) I write entries right before I go to bed, which is sometimes after midnight. Right now, I don’t see a way to change the date on an existing entry, I only see a way to create a brand new entry. This isn’t a huge deal, but it would just be a nice little convinience to be able to click the date and select a new one.

by Vladimus

Diarly does all that I need it to do to handle my journaling needs. The developers are very active and are improving the application all the time. Although initially it seemed to be deficient in some ways like its handling of Markdown lists, they have improved the application at the point where it’s really intuitive to use.

One feature I really like is that if you create a journal entry shortly past midnight, it associates the journal entry with the previous day rather than the current day. That shows you that the developers are really thinking about the user and I appreciate that.

by Macdeb333

Diarly is simple and clean - and does just what I want it to do - allow me to do simple journaling and keep my data safe with Encryption. Plus, the developer has been extremely responsive. I am a user of Day One Classic (which does not have encryption), and this app advertises the ability to import Day One files. It turned out that Diarly couldn’t handle the Classic file structure, so the developer created a new importer for me!! He will be including this in upcoming releases. I really appreciate when a developer takes customer feedback seriously. Great work!

by Devotedhartt89

I was considering just using a password protected pages but this is so much better. It has the simplicity but also the design and different options. It's unique but not complicated. I love that I can do the dark background with the bright colors on the bullets and underlining. I can put in the time of day I write manually and go back and log what I wrote on paper in previous days. There aren't too many restrictions to it. The only thing I would like to change would be to use the fingerprint to unlock instead of just the password. Very minor.

by Youngvar

Diarly is exceptional. I’m new to journaling, and have owned the this app app for a few years now. It has been rough getting into the habit of journaling every day, but with the recent changes in this app, I have found Diarly to be far ahead of the competition. I am actually surprised it’s not rated as a top iOS/MacOS journaling app. I assume it is because the user interface is not up there with Day One and other journaling apps, but as a techie, I am more concerned with what is under the hood.

Diarly is very smart, and it can do much more than the competitions journal (Day One Journal). I would actually say this app is more direct competition with Bear Markdown notes than Day One journal, anyway! The this app team is onto something here. I think with a little help, and added effort, they could get the product to compete with Friday. There is endless potential with Diarly and I look forward to seeing it develop.

by Soy1920

I never bother writing reviews but am happy to do so for this app. I’ve tried endless note taking and task apps - Bear, Todoist, Things as well as the latest Roam, Obsidian, etc. I always come back to this app. I love it! It’s a perfect combination of notes, and tasks. With an easy and clean interface, it’s perfect for my modified version of bullet journaling.

Some possible ideas to make a wonderful app even better - maybe include support for auto generated notes by typing [[new note name]] (like Obsidian and Zettlr). And maybe include support for notes organized by folders.

I really think this app is terrific and deserves to be more popular. The developer is super friendly and responsive too!

(As a developer myself - I have some tips to maybe help this app become as popular as it should be too - try targeting bullet journal and maybe markdown journal for keywords.)

Thanks for the amazing app!

Lastly a really small note -

by Gabbqfan

I had spent a good amount of time in Diarly Store trying to find something that would allow me to journal on a daily basis. My biggest desire was to have an app that behaved like a diary or journal, meaning the pages, depending on which way I swiped, would go back and forth like the pages of a book. This is the only app that I was able to find that performs like that and performs it so well! In addition to text I can also add photos so easily! The cost of the upgrade was well worth it and I finally have something I can use on my iPad each and every day.

by Mjseik

I’ve tested both apps at the same time. There is an elegance in simplicity and this app has this advantage, and others, over Day One. Choosing this one was a no-brainer. So much so that I immediately purchased this version, where paying for an annual subscription with Day One just didn’t feel right. I understand the reasoning behind it, but with a journal—something so personal—I feel more comfortable owning Diarly .

One thing I would love to see is the ability to sync Diarly without having to use iCloud.

Thank you for making Diarly, making it well, affordable, and with a beautiful UI.

by Roxroe

If you want a simple interface, but lots behind the scenes, this is Diarly . Face ID lock, character counting, WYSIWYG tools. Multiple journals, iCloud sync, Calendar based, location based, photo based. All these great features but the front and center is just simple writing and capturing of text. You can customize your word count goals, so if you are Artist Way journal writer, it will let you know how many words and you can set your goals. A nice simple green check mark in the right corner tells you that you’ve arrive. A beautiful interface, with color themes. Brilliant!!! 5 stars!!!!

by Adi77f

I have been one of first users of this app - and I still love it. While solutions was below Day One I used at a time, from day one, I was impressed by developer's passion for good product and service - as he exchanged 6 e-mails within one day to fix a bug I have found.. That's winning spirit.. That day I moved from Day One, which was perfect journaling solution at a time, yet with annoying commercial model (yearly subscription). I hope that this app developer will not go the same path (yearly sibscription).... Until then - 5 stars!

by 💗bellarose08

I almost never write reviews but I will for Diarly. It an amazing journaling app and the best I’ve ever downloaded. I love how many features it has and how you can see the time, date, location and more. Everything I’ve wanted in a journaling app is in it and I love it.
Another great bonus is that you can change the icon of Diarly! Whether you want it blue or green to pink and black, there are other colors as well. The only thing that I dislike, is the fact that you can’t move your drawing wherever you want, on the note page, you can only shrink it. Otherwise Diarly is amazing.

by KatieLewisQuiltng

I love, love, love Diarly. I initially installed it to replace my notes app so I could have more functionality, but it has far-exceeded my expectations. At the start of this year, I decided to try using this app in place of my paper bullet journal, and it has worked perfectly. Krzysztof is a very responsive to issues and requests—this app is already an amazing app but I know he’ll continue to make it the best it can be. The free version was amazing, but the paid version is so affordable compared to purchasing a paper planner and the syncing between devices is a feature I appreciate. I highly recommend this app!

by 1Pink Rose

I wanted to start journaling again but for the first time I really wanted to try journaling with an app and the primary reason is that I have so many journals around but no way of being able to track things to be able to see what I need to work on. Diarly was different from the others I saw in Diarly Store, I decided to try it out and so far it has been a wonderful experience and I’m really glad that I decided to try it out because it is truly helping me to stay focused and to be consistent in my journaling the way that I was before my life got so busy.
Thank You this app for a beautiful App. 😊

by Ellliottower

I have been using Diarly for a few weeks and it's really good. I don't like to journal much and I usually won't create a new entry because I don't know what to say but this app automatically creates a new post for today when you open it, which is a nice way to always check in. Would be cool if you could have it remind you to journal every day as wel as a notification.

Customizing the prompts and the fact that it's markdown is really nice as well, I have three prompts that I like to answer and it's cool that it automatically puts your curser in the field and lets you instantly type when opening Diarly . Very good design choices.

by MSHJ.

I am someone who mind does not seem to have a resting day due to a lot of things. Among them is this urge to write about my day/life, the many business ideas running through my mind, and to keep track of the many priorities in life. Sure I have my Iphone's notepad, but it is limited. Since finding Diarly, I can say that I love the features/functionality that it provides. Chief among my likes of this app are the timeline, where I can almost chronicle my day/life, and the notes, where I can jot down business ideas and really anything in my mind at the moment. With the separation of timeline and notes, the two do not mix together, as each of them has a different purpose. Diarly has given greater sense to my life and I am appreciative of it.

by Glnstr

this app has the best UI, usability, and intuitive features of the handful of journal/diary apps I’ve tried. It has all formatting features I need when I need them; the UI gets out of the way and just lets me write. When I do need formatting, the controls that come up are so clean and easy to use, just like the rest of Diarly .

The subscription price is worth it and half (or more than half) of what comparable apps in the same class cost. I rarely write reviews but Diarly deserves it.

If there was a negative I could bring up - I wish the heading level control allowed me to long press it to choose from a drop down or list of what level I need. As it is at the time of this writing, I need to click a few extra times to get the desire heading level. But this is just a nitpick. Kudos to the this app team. Keep up the good work.

by Jules Loves To Write!

I was searching for a daily journaling app and had tried a few before this one, when I came across this one i was a tad skeptical because I figured it would be like all the rest! I was so very pleasantly surprised to see how wondeful Diarly is and easy to navigate and helps give you prompts when your having trouble writing! It also lets you set reminders, lets you customize it, to fit you writing styles and personality! You can link it across all of your devices which is amamzing as well as you can have multi[ple journals all in one place and add pictures for your memories it just all the way around a beautiful application for anyone and they make it easy to navigate and use for the less computer savvy to the most computer savvy !!! I would absolutley recomment Diarly to my family and friends! They get five stars from me !!!

by Kevitran

Clean, modern, creative, intuitive, and an amazing customer support, seriously what more could you want in an app?

I cherish the fact that Diarly not only provide plenty of themes and font options for our diaries, but also the details that go into each theme. With creative titles and images to compliment the theme, like, that is on a whole other level. What you guys are doing already radiates enough inspiration, but the whole app itself is inspiring to use every single day. You don't see a lot of this anywhere really.

Overall I am in love with this product as I've tried dozens of other similar apps/methods for journaling and this is the most solid one that has kept my attention the most and I keep coming back to it everyday. I will for sure be using this for a really long time, well after graduation.

Just by using this product you can see how much attention and love has been given towards development to make it perfect. Well done, 5 stars!

by ImmortalSerenade

I’ve been struggling with journaling using the free Apple notes for 9 years. I’ve had so many entries lost, randomly deleted, date altered without my consent, and overall I’ve just had a very negative experience with it. I stuck to it though, because I accumulated over 700 entries and no app allows for easy importing. While Diarly doesn’t have that feature either (I’m manually copy pasting every single entry and picture!!) it is basically everything I wanted in an app at a reasonable price. The developer is so nice and responsive, I’m confident that any issues I find in the future will be resolved quickly, unlike the Apple notes app, where no matter how many emails or bug reports I send, the problems never get fixed. If the developer ever releases a lifetime premium membership fee, I would buy it in a heartbeat!! Although, thank you for keeping Diarly updated at a reasonable price anyways!! Thank you thank you thank you for creating this diary app!!